Roundup
(1) Sidney Powell pleads guilty and gets 6 years probation. I’m not sure what if anything this will mean for Trump, but apparently part of her plea agreement is that she will be required to testify in future trials.
(2) Joran van der Sloot admits having killed Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005, as he pleads guilty to extorting her mother. Part of the agreement is that he won’t be tried for her murder. He is already serving a sentence for the murder of another woman – but not a life sentence. Outrageous and horrifying.
(3) Another Speaker vote, but I’m not optimistic about it.
(4) This would be nice if it pans out:
Stem cell biologist Helen Blau of Stanford University School of Medicine and colleagues previously found that blocking 15-PGDH in old mice restored their withered muscles and improved their strength after a month of treatment. On the flip side, young mice lost muscle and became weaker after their levels of this enzyme were increased for a month.
Blau’s team has now found that 15-PGDH accumulates in the muscles of old mice as the connections that allow communication between muscles and nerves are lost, another consequence of aging. Treating old mice for one month with a drug that inhibits 15-PGDH restored these connections, called synapses, between muscle fibers and motor nerve cells, and boosted the animals’ strength …
(5) Another Nazi admirer heard from.
Another Nazi sympathizer fired. Imagine a personal banker who hates Jews, in NYC, where there are many, many Jews.
Re. Sidney Powell, see this post by John Hinderskee, at powerline.
“… there is only one illegal act alleged in the indictment, and it does not involve Donald Trump. That act was breaking into a voting machine or other voting equipment in Coffee County for the purpose of trying to prove voter fraud.
“So I was curious to see what Powell actually pled guilty to. Sure enough, the only charge to which she pled guilty was illegally accessing the Coffee County voting equipment.”
So nothing much there. But Powell is a kook so who knows what she will say during testimony? Trump really knows how to pick people /sarcasm
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/10/sidney-powell-pleads.php
https://nypost.com/2023/10/20/2-american-hostages-held-by-hamas-released/
Actually the young banker is very much in the vein of rockefeller or the harrimand or dillon read
Ah shes uzbek you want to know how the handle militants in their country.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/family-of-hostages-slated-for-release-have-been-contacted-by-israeli-authorities/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pair-of-israeli-hostages-reportedly-handed-over-to-red-cross/
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-diverts-ammunition-ukraine-israel-yet-another-blow-zelensky
I don’t recall a single word from or about the chaperones on the Holloway trip.
My wife was a teacher of high school Spanish. I’ve done those trips. Wonder if the chaps spent their time In the bar.
2: Other countries like to posture as morally superior to the US because they don’t have the death penalty. They don’t see that sentencing van der Sloot to 28 years for bludgeoning a young woman to death says that her life is less valuable then his.
Hinderaker, no fan of President Trump, said the plea deal shows there is no case against Trump. Anyone who read the transcript of the Trump-Raffensberger conversation already knows this– but it’s good to see even Trump agnostics see it.
Didn’t Powell show the voting machines were connected to the internet and could be hacked? What a kook.
By the way, here’s an Atlanta Journal-Constitution article from Oct. 23, 2020:
“Headed into one of the most consequential elections in the state’s history, Georgia’s new electronic voting system is vulnerable to cyberattacks that could undermine public confidence, create chaos at the polls or even manipulate the results on Election Day.”
“Computer scientists, voting-rights activists, U.S. intelligence agencies and a federal judge have repeatedly warned of security deficiencies in Georgia’s system and in electronic voting in general. But state officials have dismissed their concerns as merely “opining on potential risks.””
“Instead, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office weakened the system’s defenses, disabling password protections on a key component that controls who is allowed to vote.”
“And what state officials describe as a feature of the new system actually masks a vulnerability.”
“Officials tell voters to verify their selections on a paper ballot before feeding it into an optical scanner. But the scanner doesn’t record the text that voters see; rather, it reads an unencrypted quick response, or QR, barcode that is indecipherable to the human eye. Either by tampering with individual voting machines or by infiltrating the state’s central elections server, hackers could systematically alter the barcodes to change votes.”
“The new voting system “presents serious security vulnerability and operational issues” caused by “fundamental deficits and exposure,” U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg wrote in a recent order, in which she criticized state officials for not taking the problems more seriously.”
https://www.ajc.com/politics/election/in-high-stakes-election-georgias-voting-system-vulnerable-to-cyberattack/TBFT5U5BH5AZZPFPZTP3LFQ7RY/
Richard Aubrey, Natalee Holloway was in Aruba with friends on a post-graduation trip. I never heard that there were chaperones; it wasn’t a school-sponsored trip so far as I know.
https://technofog.substack.com/p/prediction-sidney-powell-wont-be
Regarding (3).
In contrast to some who’d pillory Gaetz, here’s what he says about himself and the other seven who’ve brought the House to this juncture (via JustTheNews):
“If what people need is to see the 8 of us wrapped on the knuckles in order to get on to the business of governing” they n we are open to consequences, Gaetz said, including removal from the conference.
Gaetz said he and the other conservatives would stay Republicans.
“We are willing to accept censure, sanction, suspension, and removal in order to see Jordan as speaker,” he said. “If what these holdouts need are a pound of our flesh, we’re willing to give it to them to see Jordan as speaker.”
https://justthenews.com/government/congress/gaetz-says-conservatives-who-voted-remove-mccarthy-offered-leave-conference
I’d say that Gaetz is willing to fall in his sword.
If what people need is to see the 8 of us wrapped on the knuckles[…]
Gah. To paraphrase Casey Stengel, can’t anybody in the professional writing biz write in English?
Rapped.
Your knuckles don’t get “wrapped” like a freaking birthday present.
So, if you kill someone, you should go ahead and kill someone else, so you have leverage when it comes to sentencing? Good to know.
Jordan is no longer the speaker nominee. Fell short again. There is, in fact, no Republican Party. Just people acting for themselves. All 210 Dems voted as a block.
The problem with Gaetz & co. is that they had no plan for what comes after they got rid of McCarthy. It seems they still don’t have a plan. Wishes, yes; a plan, no.
Ah i see
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2023/10/20/dont-be-fooled-by-the-reason-hamas-just-released-two-hostages-n2630157
Can bet your house the Kangaroo Courts will have these in any Trump courts.
Too sad they feel they had to admit crimes they didn’t do.
“The problem with Gaetz & co. is that they had no plan for what comes after they got rid of McCarthy.” – Kate
The plan was to elect a speaker they trusted. Apparently the liberal wing doesn’t trust Jordan.
The bigger issue is Jordan probably doesn’t have the contacts of the GOPe donor wing and won’t be able to bring home the gravy to congresspersons– forcing them to rely on their constituents for their campaigns.
Yes, Brian E, but they didn’t have a candidate who could unite the caucus.
Brian E posits that somehow Gaetz and the seven dwarves and Jordon are pure as the wind driven snow (not the yellow snow that “liberal” Republicans prefer). They all have to get reelected every two years, and somehow for some reason, people and interests will try to influence every one of them through campaign donations. Some are corrupted by it to be sure.
I have no problem with Jordon and had no problem with Scalise, but unlike the Pyros, McCarthy was preferable to a Democrat house in January of 2025.
Gaetz’s great plan shows the consequences of voting with all the Democrats for short term (personal) advantage. Knave or fool?
Natalee was on a school trip, and there were chaperones.
“The group, consisting of 124 students and seven adult chaperones, settles in at the Holiday Inn resort near the northern end of the island.”
https://www.biography.com/crime/natalle-holloway-murder-timeline
JNS, Caroline Glick, “Biden’s Impossible Demand”: https://www.jns.org/bidens-impossible-demand/
Thanks, wendybar. I have a granddaughter starting in that same Alabama school district. I don’t think her parents will be sending her to Aruba for her graduation in thirteen years.
Biden and the State Department are idiots if they think the Fatah faction are less bloodthirsty than Hamas. Alas, I think State has had a lot of Arabists for decades. Someone just resigned because he couldn’t stomach US support for the demolition of Hamas.
My wife and I visited Aruba the year before Natalee Holloway was killed.
Gret Van Susteren was all over the story for many months. Aruba is a small island. We recognized almost every spot that was in her stories. It seemed a fairly laid-back and safe place to us. Not a place where someone like van der Sloot would be preying on young women. The story had the effect of darkening our view of Aruba. We never went back.
Van der Sloot appears to be a sociopath. Seemingly no remorse. He is getting off far too easily.
Kate, for the first 12 ballots, 20 conservatives voted against McCarthy, so I’m not sure you could consider McCarthy the consensus candidate.
um, Here’s a random sample of some of the critters voting aginst Jordan and how they get their campaign funds.
Diaz-Balart — PAC 62%; Large contributions individuals 38%
Elizey– Small cont. indviduals 51%; Large cont. ind 41%
Gonzalez– PAC 51%; Large cont. ind 49%
Simpson– PAC 73%; Large cont. ind. 18%
Bacon– PAC 43%; Large cont. ind. 43%
Gaetz–Small cont. ind. 65%; Large cont. ind. 34%; PAC 0.3%
Data is from Open Secrets. I really don’t have time to go through all of them.
One of the perks of leadership is you get large amounts of money to reward/punish your caucus with. I suspect the pool of money would drop with Jordan– and different people would be rewarded/punished.
Some of the congress critters want to bring home the pork. Remember the fight to eliminate earmarks some years ago. They’re back and in 2023 resulted in $23 billion, up from 18% the year before.
Some want payback for McCarthy.
https://www.cagw.org/reporting/pig-book
Some may be opposed to Jordan’s position on continuing to fund Ukraine.
Item 4 piqued my interest. We’ll (my wife and I) never see the eventual results, as it’ll be years before it will become a treatment, if ever.
On a somewhat similar note, I will mention here the use of collagen peptides to improve health, even for those of us who are quite old.
I mentioned in another thread that I have been taking Unflavored Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, for about three months now. I mix 1/3 of a cup in my morning coffee. It has made quite a difference in less hip pain, better endurance, and just an overall feeling of wellbeing.
I read that it does even more for you if you mix it in bone broth. But it needs to be ingested two or more hours after eating a meal. So, that’s my next experiment in better living through nutrition. I will drink it in the evening about 30 minutes before bedtime and see how it goes.
I don’t want to live forever, but being functional – able to walk most anywhere, do my yard work, drive a car, and be free of pain and discomfort is my goal. At 90, it’s a worthwhile endeavor.
Brain E:
Cherry picks 5 Representatives to show that Representative Blue Balls is purer that all? Blue Balls voted with all the Democrats to start this cluster fark. You can’t spin that Brain E.
JJ, drinking it with bone broth sounds like a great idea! I’m currently having it in the morning with my coffee, and a pinch of cinnamon, but with the bone broth, I wouldn’t want the cinnamon.
Brian E, unfortunately (because I think highly of him), Jordan wasn’t a consensus candidate either.
Laughable, the arsonist shouldn’t be blamed for lighting the House on fire.
https://redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2023/10/20/time-for-gop-holdouts-stop-blaming-matt-gaetz-elect-a-speaker-n2165326
It took 15 rounds of voting to get to McCarthy, and one vote with all the Democrats to light up the House and now everyone should ignore the smell of burnt hair and signs of destruction.
Actions have consequences.
@ JJ
• Item 4 also caught my eye.
“I have been taking Unflavored Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, for about three months now.”
• Interesting.
• Do you have any experience with Glucosamine or Glucosamine & Chondroitin?
• If yes, any thoughts on the difference between the two supplements – benefits, usage, etc. – if any?
Thank you for sharing.
It appears that at least some of the opposition to Jordan was about refusing to reward bad behavior by Gaetz and his 8.
There’s something to that. Gaetz said he wanted McCarthy from the beginning. 96% of the GOP caucus voted to keep McCarthy as speaker, but were thwarted by Gaetz. A majority of the caucus then chose Scalise, and were again thwarted by Gaetz. Jordan’s merits aside, rewarding Gaetz by giving him exactly what he wanted after all the damage he’s caused would set a terrible precedent.
I see that point, but frankly, I think it would have been better if Jordan had won it. That would have demonstrated once and for all that strategies that McCarthy was employing were about making the best of a bad situation rather than him being some sort of RINO, crypto-deep state sell out. Jordan was already cutting decidedly un-conservative deals about Ukraine funding and increasing the SALT deduction. I believe had also agreed to another continuing resolution to try to win votes. If you think that a Speaker Jordan would have been able to get better results than Speaker McCarthy with 220 or so R’s in the House, I have a bridge to sell you. Now that we’ll have a different speaker, the GOP fantasy land caucus will be able to continue deluding themselves into believing that we would have been able to get better results if only Jordan had been speaker. That’s nuts.
Although given the conspiratorial nature of the MAGA crowd, they would have almost certainly rationalized away the heresies of a Jordan speakership by insisting that Jim Jordan had been a crypto-RINO all along.
Democrats are the chief reason that the country is headed into the dumpster. MAGA Republicans are the chief reason that we can’t do anything about it.
Bauxite, I suggest you find some term other than “the MAGA crowd” or worse, Joe Biden’s “MAGA Republicans.” Practically all of the commenters here, myself included, voted for Trump, and approved in general of his policies in the presidency.
Kate:
Bauxite seems to fall into CC™ mode and froth about dreaded MAGA crowd or about The Great Orange Whale when it isn’t necessary.
um, I resent your accusation that I would distort data. Why not just accuse me of lying?
Those were the first names on the list of those who voted against Jordan.
Here’s some more from Open Secrets data:
(LIC- large individual contributions; SIC- small individual contributions)
Chavez-Deremer- PAC 42%; LIC 27%; Other 25%
Fitzpatrick- PAC 43%; LIC 37%; SIC 7%
Kean- LIC 49%; PAC 26%; Other 23%
Kiggans- LIC 33%; PAC 32%; Other 25%
Diaz-Balart- LIC 53%; PAC 42%; Other 4%
Granger- PAC 55%; LIC 31%; Other 14%
Rutherford- PAC 67%; LIC 26%
Garbarino- PAC 62%; LIC 27%
Stauber- LIC 45%; PAC 45%; SIC 8%
Womack- PAC 67%; LIC 26%; Other 5%
Let’s see if there is a pattern here. Here are the other 8 that voted to oust McCarthy:
Biggs- LIC 48%; SIC 46%; PAC 6%
Buck- LIC 46%; SIC 37%; PAC 15%
Burchett- LIC 70%; SIC 18%; PAC 11%
Good- LIC 61%; Other 15%; SIC 12%; PAC 12%
Mace- LIC 37%; SIC 24%; PAC 20%
Rosendale- LIC 46%; Other 32%; PAC 20%
I’m not saying those that voted against Jordan are in the pocket of special interests, but notice those that voted against McCarthy receive much/some of their campaign donations from small individual or large individual donations and not from PACs.
Most of those that voted against Jordan had no/next to none from small individual contributions.
Furthermore
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/10/20/adviser-linked-pence-kemp-working-undermine-republican-speaker-nominee-jim-jordan/
OK – GOP fantasyland caucus? What do we call them? I hate the name game thing. Forcing opponents to waste time and energy arguing about terminology is a leftist tactic. I doubt that anyone was in the dark about what I meant.
BTW, I voted for Trump in 2020 too.
Mabye the GOP “Burn it all down” caucus? The GOP “we must destroy the party in order to save it” caucus? The “crack suicide squad from the GOP People’s Front?”
How about the “Gaetz caucus?”
Democrats are the chief reason that the country is headed into the dumpster. MAGA Republicans are the chief reason that we can’t do anything about it.
Why is the finger pointed at the 200 or so Republicans who voted for Jordan, as opposed to the 20 holdouts that refused? Who is the “consensus candidate” of those holdouts? What is their “plan”? It seems to me that is the group that couldn’t sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of the country.
the reality is mccarthy didn’t want to change things, jordan wants to do things
Sorry, thatguy. I wrote a long post about the issue, but for some reason It was lost.
The short version is that I’ve not had much luck with Glucosamine and Chondroitin. But our daughter has. She uses it successfully for knee and wrist pain.
I have had better luck with Turmeric for inflammation.
Different strokes for different folks. 🙂
@ JJ
“The short version is that I’ve not had much luck with Glucosamine and Chondroitin. But our daughter has. Different strokes for different folks”
• Interesting II.
• I have also had great success with Glucosamine and Chondroitin.
• Dated a vet – equine surgeon – who told me that health care for humans is way behind understanding how beneficial G&C can be – while noting your observation: Results may vary.
Thank you for the info.
*****
Long Version:
• Have worn away much of my knee cartilage due to my love of backpacking & climbing – 60-70 lb. backpacks, tortuous terrain, etc. – and in my early 40’s found myself in great pain just walking from the parking garage to my office.
• Went to see a top Orthopedist, and after examining me, going over my activity history, we went over options. A) Continue to backpack & climb and then replace my knees when they eventually failed. B) Switch entirely to activities that did not wear away the remaining cartilage (e.g., cycling, diving). He knew I was not going to stop being active/ exploring.
• My then GF was a master diver who was thrilled about the aspect of us travelling the world & diving. But I knew, I enjoyed terra firma more than the sea. And surgery was a ‘no go’ for me.
• Then one of my staff mentioned Glucosamine and Chondroitin.
• Just like surgery is a ‘no go’ for me, prescriptions are a ‘no go’ too ^^. But this was not a prescription – it was a supplement. Willing to consider.
^^ = have had extraordinarily good health all my life – in part because I do have regular physicals, pay attention to my diet & exercise, etc. – and I am not anti-medicine/ science; but do not believe that the ‘pill or knife’ is the only answer.
• Amazing difference. Went back to doing everything I did before, same degree of difficulty, etc. No more pain. Did start to wear neoprene sleeves over both knees to help with alignment, and still take G&C every day.
• Lastly, returned to the same Orthopedist for a shoulder injury – I am not the greatest skier – and he asked me about my knees. Told him about the G&C, and he was very interested in the results.
Again, thank you for the info.
Brain E:
You initially cited 5 republicans that bolstered your point that the GOP non-gang of eight are evil and corrupted by PACs? So now you get around to a longer list, ten this time.
Look up “cherry picking.” It isn’t the same as flat out Brandonizing.
Is there a specific percentage of PAC funding that is the Brain E acceptance criteria for a GOP politician? IIRC the Hildabeast and John McCain were both hot about campaign financing and PACs. Choose wisely Brain E.
Resentment won’t get you far dude.
“um, Here’s a random sample of some of the critters voting against Jordan and how they get their campaign funds.”
um, what part of “random sample” don’t you understand?
I could do all 23, but Open Secrets didn’t have data for a few of them.
While it’s not dipositive of outside interests having too much influence over the representative, the fact that most of the naysayers had few to no small contributions is significant, IMO. The Large Individual Contributions are more than $200. The Small Individual Contributions are less than $200.
The greater the individual contributions, the more likely the representative is, you know, representing the interests of their constituents.
Besides being influenced by PACs, other reasons they refused to agree to Jordan could be their vindictive pettiness, addiction to pork, globalist/free trade, or neo-con impulse.
By the way, here’s the data for Jim Jordan:
SIC 58%; LIC 37%; Other 3%; PAC 2%.
Brain E:
I had no problem with Jordon, to repeat myself. Understand?
I do wonder if you understand sampling a population or how to pick a random sample. Don’t get resentful again.
Now how is your inference about the motives of those voting against Jordon are connected or correlated to your fund raising data? It could be they don’t like unicorns or Jordon. About as valid as your throw sh*t on the wall logic.
Don’t get resentful because Gaetz started this sh*t show.
um, do you understand what “cherry picking” means?
You might want to check your reading comprehension.
Here’s what I originally wrote:
“The bigger issue is Jordan probably doesn’t have the contacts of the GOPe donor wing and won’t be able to bring home the gravy to congresspersons– forcing them to rely on their constituents for their campaigns.”
To which you responded:
Brian E posits that somehow Gaetz and the seven dwarves and Jordon are pure as the wind driven snow (not the yellow snow that “liberal” Republicans prefer).”
I thought that was one of your usual cheap shots, so as I considered how to demonstrate (if it was possible) that these folks might be relying on special interest money– both from Republican leadership and from other big donors, I thought about looking at their contributions. That would have taken weeks, so when I noticed that Open Secrets and a summary of their contributions in the categories I posted them.
While it’s no proof they are beholden to special interests, it was apparent that these folks, with a couple of exceptions, received almost no contributions from small donations– which is exactly the point I was originally trying to make.
And whether or not you had no problem with Jordan is completely irrelevant to the discussion.
At some point blaming Gaetz for this will be past it’s sell-by-date. The majority will, at some point have to hold their noses and vote for someone they don’t like– and reserve the right to hold them accountable.
Here’s how this all came about:
“The House will vote Saturday on a 45-day “clean” stopgap funding bill that includes money for disaster relief, a major turn in strategy for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ahead of a midnight shutdown deadline.
The clean continuing resolution (CR) would require support from two-thirds of the House for passage because it is being considered under a fast-tracked mechanism called suspension of the rules. That means it would rely heavily on Democratic support to pass.
The decision by McCarthy opens his Speakership up to threats from hardline conservatives like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) who have warned McCarthy to not put a clean CR on the floor.
“If someone wants to remove because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try,” McCarthy said.
Maybe McCarthy shouldn’t have made inflammatory statements like that, or sent a cr to the floor that required “heavy Democrat support”. Yes, Gaetz taking the bait was childish, but so was McCarthy daring him to do it.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4209325-house-gop-reaches-short-term-spending-deal-with-cuts-and-border-policy-changes/
Brain E:
Who voted with all the Democrats to start this?
Brain E:
Cherry picking – selecting data that supports a preconceived outcome. Five first then another 10, selected at “random.” LOL.
How about selecting randomly from all the House Republicans? Pray tell how did you generate your random group of Republican congressmen? Crickets.
‘I trusted Open Secrets! Believe me, I’m Brain E.’
Have you ever had to do a random sample generation process for sampling, when real money was involved, instead of just using the word “random” to bolster your spin?
It seems you are still resentful.
But back to basics: Who voted with all the Democrats to start this? And why would anyone trust a scorpion?
“Pray tell how did you generate your random group of Republican congressmen? Crickets.” – um
This is the “random group” that voted against Jordan for Speaker.
“Cherry picking – selecting data that supports a preconceived outcome.” – um
That would require that I knew the amount of PAC money received by all the representatives that voted against Jordan and then used the ones the supported my assertion that the representatives would have to rely more on individual donations if Jordan were elected. I’ve said twice that I did not do that.
By the way, in the 2022 election cycle only Chuck Schumer received more lobbyist money than Kevin McCarthy– McCarthy received $1.2 million from lobbyists and their families, vs. $1.5 million to Schumer.
You asked me what was the right amount of money from PACS. I think the right number is less than the money received from LIC and SIC.
Do I believe Open Secrets? No reason not to. They compile data that is publicly available. Doesn’t mean I agree with their conclusions– that’s a different subject.
Brain E:
Changing the subject to McCarthy, who isn’t in the running for speaker, weak. Deflection and spin.
You could have selected a random sample of Republicans and bounced them against the Open Secrets database. That wouldn’t be cherry picking (hint). You would still have to have gone through the effort of actually selecting a random sample of Republican congressmen. Too hard? Fail.